


altruism's a good look for you

by SmittyJaws



Series: R2J AU [8]
Category: Led Zeppelin, Queen (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Character, Bisexual Male Character, Fluff and Angst, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24342433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmittyJaws/pseuds/SmittyJaws
Summary: Roger just wanted a nice date night. Was that too much to ask?
Relationships: Robert Plant/Original Female Character(s), Robert Plant/Roger Taylor/Original Female Character(s), Roger Taylor (Queen)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: R2J AU [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757326
Kudos: 5





	altruism's a good look for you

**Author's Note:**

> Slowly catching up on these fics! XD
> 
> This one was actually a request on Tumblr: _Rog getting in a fight (probably in a bar after hearing someone make an unsavory comment about their relationship) and then Robert and Jay dragging him away and taking him home and simultaneously trying to scold him while also going mother hen on him to make sure he’s not hurt too bad_
> 
> The moment I saw that, the wheels in my head started turning, and ended up becoming this fic! :D Warning for single use of derogatory language.

Roger needs to know when to let something go. He knows he’s got a bad tendency to act before he thinks, and he also knows that being in a relationship the way he is is bound to attract some unsavoury attention.

That said, he just wanted to enjoy a nice night out with his partners; was that too much to ask? Robert’s recently gotten home from tour, Jay’s received a promotion at work, and Queen’s just put out their first album. He wanted to celebrate; have a night out before he had to leave on his own tour to support the new album, and go on a date with his boyfriend and girlfriend.

Apparently it was too much to hope for; that today might be a day where they got left alone.

He’s making his way back from a trip to the loo when he hears it; the sympathetic tutting of a man nearby sitting at the bar. “Sorry for your loss, mate.”

“My loss?” Roger frowns and wracks his brain. Had something bad happened that he wasn’t aware of?

“Yeah, your girl. Looks like your mate’s made a move on her.” The man gestures over at their table, where Robert and Jay are currently snuggled up close and exchanging a kiss. The sight makes a warm feeling bloom in Roger’s chest and he sighs in relief.

“Oh, no, that’s alright.” He shakes his head. “She’s with him too.”

If only people could mind their own business. If only people could leave a (perfectly acceptable) answer alone. But no— of _course_ the one word in that sentence is enough to make the man’s face turn from sympathy to a frown. “ _‘Too’_?” he repeats dumbfoundedly, and if Roger weren’t so impatient to get back to his table, he’d probably feel more amused.

As it is, he just nods politely, trying to extricate himself from the situation as smoothly as possible. “Yeah. She’s dating both of us.”

“And you’re alright with that?” The man looks incredulous now. “Mate, don’t mind my saying so, but that’s the quickest way to end your relationship; opening it up. What you really need to do is talk out your problems, not add someone else in. Besides, there’s still a lack of decency in her parading this around in front of you; you ought to take her home and show her why she wanted you in the first place.”

Roger sighs. This is exactly what he wanted to avoid, and his next statement probably won’t help either. “It’s not like that. We’re _all_ dating. The three of us.”

He refuses to feel shame in the looks that he gets when he tells other people this; after all, it’s his relationship, not theirs, and if he’s happy then he’s got nothing to feel embarrassed about. So maybe he has a bit of a challenging tone in his voice, and maybe he makes deliberate eye contact to show that he doesn’t care what this stranger thinks, and _maybe_ he feels an internal surge of glee as the man’s face turns several shades of pale, then red, before finally settling on a deep crimson.

“Oh.” The man’s lip is curled up in a sneer now, and while Roger refuses to look away, he can see Robert and Jay out of the corner of his eye, watching him from the table and whispering to themselves. He really hopes this ends soon; he just wanted to have a drink tonight, and he hasn’t even had a chance to touch his yet.

He realizes he’s been drifting a bit and tunes back in to hear the man lecturing him again about the inherent wrongness of their relationship. He barely resists the urge to roll his eyes and is about to tune the man out again until he gets his tirade out of his system, but then he hears something he can’t forgive.

“It won’t last anyway,” the man sneers, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. “You people all think you can just _‘do what you want; love who you love’_ , but committed relationships are meant for two people. If your ‘girlfriend’ is shacking up with the two of you publicly, then who knows how many more that little slut’s probably got hiding in her phone contacts—”

Roger cuts the man off with a vicious right hook, sending him sprawling off of his barstool and landing on his ass in a very undignified manner. “Don’t you talk about her that way,” he growls, shaking out his fist as he glares down at the fallen man. “What we do, or don’t do, is none of your business, and you can piss off with your opinions and advice.”

He turns to walk away, ready to leave this behind him and apologize to his partners for having kept them waiting, when a hand claps down on his shoulder and spins him around. The man he’d punched is picking himself up off the ground, and a second man who’s built like a lorry is currently glaring down at him. “You’ve got a terrible smart mouth.”

That’s all the warning Roger gets before a fist smashes him in the face, and everything’s a bit of a blur from there.

He remembers giving back as good as he gets after the situation devolves into a true bar fight, a feeling of regret in the back of his mind that their one night out has been interrupted, but his body is running on autopilot and he’s not really aware of his surroundings otherwise until he’s forcibly being dragged away from the brawl and outside.

“Really, Rog?” Jay is sighing as she sits beside him in the back seat of the car on the way home, holding a wad of napkins under his bleeding nose. “A bar fight? Did someone insult your hair again?”

“No.” And maybe he sounds a bit sullen, but right now his body aches, their date is ruined, and he’s not in the mood for a lecture.

“You couldn’t have just talked it out?” Robert adds from the front seat, and Roger rolls his eyes, and ow— he really needs to not do that right now.

“Not everything can be solved with diplomacy, Sunrise,” he snarks back. “He deserved it.”

“Did he, though, or did you jump to a conclusion again?” Jay sounds disappointed now, and Roger would feel more angry if he knew she wasn’t at least partially right about his tendency to do so. Doesn’t mean he has to admit that, though; not when he already feels bad enough about the night having gone to shit.

He says nothing in response, and the rest of the car ride is quiet. Roger wants to apologize but doesn’t want to concede his position, and the others probably don’t want to escalate things.

It’ll likely be a quiet night; Roger mentally prepares himself to spend it in his old bedroom, not wanting to somehow fuck things up more than he already has, but surprisingly, the moment they’re inside the flat, Robert and Jay are already in action. Robert’s rummaging through the kitchen drawers and gathering ice in a plastic bag as well as towels, while Jay leads Roger to the bathroom, getting him to sit down on the toilet before going through their medicine cabinet.

“Why’d you do it?” she asks softly, dabbing at his split lip with a damp cloth, and Roger tries to keep from flinching at the sting. “You never actually said in the car.”

“S’not important, really.” Roger hisses as Jay touches a particularly sore spot, and Jay looks as though she’s going to press the matter, but Robert chooses that moment to appear in the doorway with a bag of ice wrapped in a towel and Roger takes the distraction willingly.

The cold numbness on his face is definitely helping the longer he holds it there, and he doesn’t want to have this conversation, but he knows he can’t avoid talking to his partners forever. “M’sorry I ruined the evening,” he mumbles, voice quiet behind the towel as he presses it to his swollen left eye and bridge of his nose. “Jus’ wanted a nice night out, was all.”

“We’re just glad you’re alright.” There’s movement in front of him, and Roger looks up with his good eye to see Robert sitting on the edge of the tub facing him, a worried look on his face. “There were a couple of really nasty-looking blokes in there, and it could have been a lot worse.”

“I know.” Honestly Roger considers himself lucky that he’s only got some small cuts and bruises; with any luck, he’ll still be able to heal up in time for the tour.

(Queen’s next couple of shows before they leave, on the other hand… Freddie will have a fit.)

“So why did you do it?” Jay asks again, gaze pleading. “Was it something bad? Is there something we can do about it?”

Robert nods in agreement, before his brow furrows into a frown. “Was it because of… Y’know. Us?” He gestures between the three of them. “The usual?”

“Yes and no,” Roger hedges, stifling a groan as he shifts the makeshift ice pack.

“Then what?” Now Jay looks confused as well.

Clearly they’re not going to let this drop. Roger sighs, closing his good eye. “He insulted us, yeah. I’d have let it go; he wasn’t worth it. But then he insulted Jay.”

“He _what_?”

Roger tells them what the man had said, and Jay looks equally horrified and shocked afterwards. “I— you know I wouldn’t— I _couldn’t_ — I’d _never_ ,” she declares shakily, and what looks like tears welling up (it’s hard to tell, what with Roger’s vision being beyond terrible right now). “Not to you both. Why would he say something like that?”

“People lash out at what they don’t understand.” Robert shrugs and pulls her down to sit beside him on the edge of the tub, holding her close. “We know you wouldn’t.”

She still doesn’t seem convinced, so Roger reaches his free hand out to her, taking her hand in his. “Why d’you think I hit him so hard? No one talks like that about you; about either of you, on my watch. I’d do it again if I had to.”

Jay eyes his scraped and bloodied knuckles, but doesn’t say anything at first, just letting him hold her hand. “I wish you didn’t have to,” she whispers, before releasing his hand to let Robert fuss over it with another damp cloth and some antiseptic cream. “It’s not fair. Why can’t they just leave us alone?”

“Trust me, I ask myself the same thing.” Roger laughs humorlessly, pulling the melted ice pack away from his face and attempting a smile. “Well, how do I look?”

“Handsome as ever,” Robert replies, distracted as he fiddles with the bandages he’s trying to put on Roger’s knuckles.

“You’re not even looking!” Roger complains. Here at home with his partners, relatively unharmed and safe from strangers’ poisonous opinions, he can feel his mood lifting somewhat and he can’t help but banter a bit.

Robert looks up dutifully with a sigh of aggravation at the interruption, but he can’t hold his serious long-suffering expression for long and soon his mouth is quirking up into a grin as well. “You’re right; what an ugly mug. The black eye is an improvement.”

Roger smirks. “That’s more like it.”

Jay giggles at the interaction before her face falls a bit again, and the moment Roger heads to their room to go change out of his bloodied shirt, she’s on him like a koala bear, hugging him tightly.

“I was so worried,” she mutters against his chest, her finger tracing carefully over a bruise on his side. “Thought you might have been a lot more seriously hurt at first. There was so much blood…”

“Hey, hey, I’m alright,” he reassures her, pulling back to look her in the eyes before he leans in and kisses her forehead. “It’s like I said, I’d do it all over again if someone was talking shite about either of you. A few bruises won’t kill me; I’m honestly more bothered that our date was ruined than anything.”

He sighs now as he sits down on the end of the bed. “It was our one night that we all didn’t have something planned, and that bastard had to go and send it down the drain. I’m sorry for that.”

“I don’t think one bad date is going to irreparably ruin things,” Robert reassures him as he joins them, standing in the doorway and leaning on the wall. “Besides,” his eyes glitter mischievously, “there’s something to be said for staying in and having a good snog. Especially after having been so chivalrous for our girl.”

“Well, I…” Roger can already feel his face heating up into a blush. How does Robert always manage to have this effect on him? “It’s not like I planned it with an ulterior motive in mind.”

“Altruism’s a good look for you, Rog,” Jay teases, and while Roger’s busy still stammering out how he still ruined the date, Robert makes his way over and shuts him up with a kiss.

Roger might regret his knee-jerk responses to offences and slights sometimes but as they finish up the night with takeout pizza, shitty beer, and old episodes of Blackadder on the telly before they’re all wrapped up in each other in bed, he finds himself not regretting how this night had turned out at all.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also @smittyjaws on Tumblr!


End file.
